Leyland’s path to Cooperstown began in Pittsburgh

Jim Leyland’s first big league managerial job came with a franchise that had finished last two seasons in a row, was coming off a 104-loss campaign and had nearly relocated before being sold to a 13-member public/private coalition.

“I’m a hard worker,” Leyland told the Associated Press on Nov. 20, 1985, when he was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates. “But I’m not a miracle worker.”

Within three years, Pirates fans were sure Leyland had the touch of the supernatural as he brought winning baseball back to Pittsburgh.

Leyland came to Pittsburgh after four seasons as Tony La Russa’s third base coach with the White Sox. In that time, Leyland – who spent 11 seasons as a manager in the Tigers organization after his minor league playing career ended – came to be regarded as one of the top minds in the game.

“We have acquired one of the brightest young talents in baseball,” Pirates president Mac Prine told the AP. “He has a one-year contract, but we think he’s going to be around for a long, long time.”

Prine was part of a group that bought the Pirates in October of 1985 from the John Galbreath family, who had put the team up for sale a year earlier but found no suitable offers. After setting a deadline for the club to be sold or moved in the summer of 1985, a group was formed that produced the $22 million price that the Galbreaths accepted.

Leyland, meanwhile, was a finalist for the Astros managerial job that eventually went to Hal Lanier. But his destiny was with the Pirates.

“We will have to have patience,” Leyland told the AP. “We have a lot of good players, but they’re young players. I’m going to have to earn the respect of the players.”

Leyland inherited a team that featured young veterans like Tony Peña and Johnny Ray but also up-and-comers like Sid Bream and R.J. Reynolds. And waiting in the minors were future stars Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla.

The Pirates improved to 64-98 in 1986 and then made the leap to 80-82 in 1987 – a year when they traded Peña to the Cardinals just days before the season opener in a deal that brought back three players, including Andy Van Slyke. In 1988, Leyland had the Pirates in second place in the National League East while he finished second in the NL Manager of the Year voting.

By 1990, Pittsburgh was the division champion – starting a three-year postseason run.

Leyland would leave the Pirates after the 1996 season with 851 wins, the third-most in team history. He would skipper the Marlins to the World Series title in 1997 before a one-year stop with the Rockies in 1999 and then an eight-year stint in Detroit where he led the Tigers to two American League pennants and four postseason berths. He was named Manager of the Year twice with the Pirates (1990 and 1992) and once with Detroit (2006).

In 2024, Leyland received the ultimate award with a place in the Hall of Fame.

It all started, however, with a team that was as far away from glory as possible.

“I think Pittsburgh made a helluva choice,” White Sox general manager Ken Harrelson, who would soon return to the broadcast booth and later win the Hall of Fame’s 2020 Ford C. Frick Award, told the AP. “He’s a thoroughbred.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum